I just put myself in the dog house. My sister-in-law calls me up this morning and says that her fiancee [b]is[/b] going to borrow my chain saw.
I told her I was very leary about loaning my tools out and that I don't even let my brother borrow my tools (mainly because I know it'll two months before I get 'em back).
So I told her I'd be glad to go cut up whatever they needed cut.
She got POed and the next thing I know I'm getting a call from the War Dept. from work bitching me out because I won't let future bro-in-law borry the chain saw.
Explained to her what my concerns were and that I watched him use my chain saw the other weekend and he didn't have a clue as to what he was doing.
I didn't mention the fact that they still owe us $300 from the excavator I rented on my business account to demolish and bury the burnt out house on the lot they're getting ready to build on!
My other past experiences of lending tools out is that it becomes a habit. Had a neighbor that I finally had to tell to go buy his on damn lawnmower after he came home with a new boat!

If you are in the mood for a good screwing then loan out your chain saw. Anyone not experienced in using one will have it in a bind and sawing dirt and nails in no time. Anyway what is wrong with being known as the prick of the family? Refuse them long enough and they will stop asking. Bottom line: No good deed goes unpunished!

I had a problem like that with a good friend that needed a saw, drill and a level... knowing he had become involved in crack and being tired of his borrowing money I gave him my older saw, drill and level... knowing it would probably get pawned and not be returned like promised in 3 days... I was right...
it was worth the cost of the older tools not to have to lend him another dime....,[;)]
Same thing with a piece of shit neighbor across the street... he and his wife are borrowing fools... always needing something... his power was being turned off and needed 100 bucks till Friday... I gave him 25 towards his needed 100... never saw the money on Friday.. But saw him buying a case of beer on Saturday. He managed to hand me 10 bucks of it when I saw him in the feed store a month later only because he felt cornered...... Guess what... I'm glad the piece of shit didn't pay the other 15 bucks.... he doesn't ask for anything now... lol
I wouldn't loan out my stihl chain saw on a bet... you did the right thing......

I loaned my uncle a .22 Hornet rifle 2 months ago and have not seen it since. A firearm is a tool, right?
[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1724658&a=13260779&p=51076798&Sequence=0&res=high[/img]
Lock&Load

Necessity may very well be the mother of invention, but I can guarantee you that the father is laziness.

About 3 years ago my now ex-partner(MF)wanted to borrow a complete set of mechanics tools from me to start his own repair shop. These were my second set that I kept at home for my hobby of performance tuning. The deal was that he would borrow them for two to three months untill he got his order of tools filled from Snap-On, complete with box. After four months went by the Snap-On dealer confirmed to me that his tools were all in. I went to get my tools. I had two friends in the truck to help me load the tools. I walked in and found some lame ass mechanic that I didn't even know, using my tools. Apparently he had none of his own. Not only was he using them, but they were filthy, completely disorganized, and spread all over the place. Many of the sets were missing tools. My ex-partner already had his new tools sitting nice and clean in a corner, but he was using mine. I had a huge argument with the jerk that was using my tools after I walked over to my tool box and started checking out all the drawers for missing tools. I explained that they were mine, and I will now be taking them back as soon as the 'boss' walks in. Then he said that they belonged to the shop owner. He told me that I was not allowed in the shop past the yellow line and to please stop touching the tools and wait for the boss. The boss walks in with a customer just when I blew a gasket. I went off on the condition of my tool set, the third party using them, and the fact that HE never called me after he got his tools. This bastard had the nerve to tell me to come back another day because they were very busy and they were still using my tools. I flipped and told him that if he did not get out of my way and let me get my tools, I would drop him right on the spot. He called 911 on the cell phone, said there was a man with a gun in his shop, and ran into the office and pulled a shotgun out . I think he thought I was armed? I wasn't. The cops got there right away, and I knew almost all of them from working on thier cars. He is lucky that he didn't get shot by the police. They diffused the situation, searched me and my two freinds and found no weapons but my Kershaw. They ordered him to gather my tools and put them all in the box, then wheel them out to me while I waited outside with them. It turned out that many of the important sets were missing key tools and everything was abused and neglected. The value of the missing items cost me almost $1,500 to replace. Instead of suing him, and risking my freedom in case I beat the piss out of him, I kept an original set of very rare Pontiac GTO RA-IV 'O' port heads and intake that I prepared for his '69 Goat. They more than paid for my tools. All I can say is NEVER AGAIN!

<font size=2>The Strong Take From The Weak....The Smart Take From The Strong</font id=s2>

I never loan out tools or guns. Niether come back as nice as when they left.
Bootedaddy is right. If someone needs something they can do it at my place or I'll do it for them, but my stuff stays with me.
I hate borrowing tools also. If I need something I don't have it's a good excuse to buy some new stuff.[;)]

MY wife cant stand when I do lend things out. I dont do it to often, but occasionally I do. I had a guy I used to work with that had borrowed my lawn mower just before I moved. He bought it from me and week later, so it worked out. I have a second set of tools that I will loan out if I have to. they are cheap tools, Kmart and Walmart, Discount dollar store cheapy tools. Had one friend break a few of those cheapy screw drivers, not realizing how cheap they where, he replaced them with Craftsman tools!! I do not leand out my craftsman or snap-on tools. I lent out a SKS scope mount to a buddy for hunting season. almost did not get it back, when I did, it had rust on the receiver. Will never lend out guns or gun stuff!!

I don't have many tools to begin with, so I can't load what I don't have. One birthday, my mom bout me a really nice set of Craftsman. I would never loan those out. Before that I was using cheap tools from the 99 cent store. If somebody wants to borrow those, thats okay.

Well, I have a teenager. Need I say more?
I will anyway. He has several neighbor friends, and they are all into computers & electronics, plus motorcycles.
So I do loan them out, only a lot of the time I don't know it until I'm in the middle of fixing something.
Like that 1 1/8" socket - it's over at so & so's, who didn't have a 32mm to use on a sprocket or the forks on some bike.
That special piece of square steel needed to remove a fill plug? It's gotta be around here somewhere. Soldering pencil? I'd better ask to check the floor in Joe's room.
[red][size=3] P.R.K.

I could buy an M1A Super Match and scope with the money spend on replacing tools that were loaned out and never returned.
So, I have signs all over my garage, expressing my feelings, that to even ask is enough to damage a relationship.

I loan a tool once and then I tell the borrower that the Snap-on, Cornwell, or Matco guy will be just as happy to sell one to him as he was to me. I do have some exceptions - if another guy asks if he can borrow my diesel injection timing pulse adapter I generally say OK, since that's a tool that most mechanics will never need (I bought mine to use with my diesel pickup and have yet to use it on any of the equipment I work on.) But when a guy comes up asking for a 1/2" drive anything I tell him to get lost. If you can't afford to buy your own tools, you shouldn't be a mechanic.

Not anymore. I've lots hundreds of $$$ on tools I loaned out and never got back... which reminds me, someone borrowed a Snap-On offset screwdriver set from me months ago and never gave it back. I asked him several times and he always forgets to bring it back.
One guy I used to work with had a nasty habit of helping himself to tools out of my toolbox without asking me. I would have tools missing and then show up mysteriously, sometimes days later. I didn't know he was borrowing from me until I caught him rummaging through my toolbox one day. I chewed his ass out and told him to stay the hell out of my tools. Now I lock up my box when I'm not with it, and this guy had the nerve to get pissed at me about locking him out of my toolbox! The noive!

Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand...? ~ Ronald Reagan

The last time I loaned out something, a circular saw to my brother. He asked about bringing it back, I told him to put it in the garage, I'd leave it open for him, I worked second shift at the time.
The following day I went out to see if he returned it. I looked high and low and couldn't find it. Then I noticed my canoe I had hanging from the rafters was missing. Not only did he not return the saw he helped himself to my canoe that had expired tags (stickers) on it. I don't care who you are you don't help yourself to my stuff without asking. Three days later, when I found him and informed him he had a half an hour to return it or deal with the police, his excuse was he was drunk when he took it. Must have been drunk for 3 days since he never bother to let me know he had it. Only the fact that my sister saw him with it kept me from calling the police right away. He did return the canoe, but I never saw the saw again.

As a general rule, no.
If the tool is going to be used in my presence, as there might be several of us working on the same project at the same time, maybe, as long as whomever gets it first understands completely that HE is the responsible party for it.
There is nothing that infuriates me more than the mooches who never seem to have anything useful of their own, but always seem to have cartons of cancer sticks, cases of beer, the newest CDs and DVDs, and eat out twice a day, everyday If they need a ratchet, I give them directions to the nearest Sears store.
Sluggo

NO! Loaned out a gun on two seperate occasions. The shot gun came back uncleaned and actually had mud on it! The second one a 22 came back with a broken scope hair. This was 30 years ago and have never loaned out another gun. Have loaned out a chain saw,came back with chain streached out to the max and DIRTY. Loaned out a tiller,came back dirty and with a broken belt. Neighbor said he'd be glad to pay for the belt.Of course I had to screw with it before I could use it again! Loaned out my lawn mower to the same neighbor! (I'm a glutton for punishment) He ran it into a stump and bent in the deck. Said he was sorry. I had to load it up and take it in to get fixed so I could use it when I needed it. I've loaned out axes and tools also but I have to go get them from the people when I need to use them. NOW I DON'T LOAN OUT SHIT TO ANYONE. SORRY! IT TOOK ME TOO LONG TO LEARN.......[BD]

I have two nice roll-away toolboxes, one is full of Craftsman inch tools and the other is a Snap-On box filled with metric tools.
I let a neighbor borrow my old Craftsman roll-away, he was working on his pile of shit American junk heap in his yard.
We agreed that he could keep the box as long as he kept it locked up (under lock and key).
About a week later he came up to me and told me that the box had been stolen.
After I calmed down I asked for specifics, like if his house had been broken into, he had been mugged, what.
He looked at me and told me that he had been leaving it in his driveway under a tarp next to his car, as he didn't want to push it up over the garage door floor seal crack.
When I told him that I expected him to replace the box and tools he said "I kept it locked up, how was I supposed to know that someone would steal a big roll-away box like that".
It took me almost 6 months to collect from his homeowners insurance (he had a $1,000 deducatable). I keep a record off all the tools in my boxes, the bill on that Craftsman box came out to be under $3,200.
His homeowners insurance (State Farm) didn't want to pay off the replacement cost of the box since the tools were "used".
They changed their minds after I pointed out that Craftsman tools have a lifetime replacement guarentee.
Loan a tool? NEVER!
Come on over to my house and I'll help you out.

WOW!
I think this is the only thread I've ever seen that everybody agreed!
Update:
They had someone come in and cut down two huge oak trees, one of which was in between the sidewalk and the street (public right away, not on their property).
I went over to help cut some wood, seeing how I'd get to keep it for firewood, and they were nowhere around. The neighbor comes over and wanted to know if I was the one that cut the tree down.
"Nope, just here to cut it up for 'em."
"Well that tree wasn't on their property and if the county finds out they're going to be in trouble!"
I told them not to cut that one tree down until they checked with the county first. Did they listen? Hell no. The guy that cut it down said it was okay and they didn't need county permission. Hope they don't get fined, people wil tell you anything when money is involved.
Oh yeah, they gave me my $300 plus another $300 for the work I did for them. Guess they got to feeling guilty. Maybe future bro-in-law isn't so bad after all.

Was a motorcycle mech along with getting into appliance repair, and electronics, so along with tons of tools, also have expensive test equipment. I don't lend out tools except to other mechanics as I've always received them back in the condition they left.
Seen too many others not get their stuff back to make me want to lose anything.

I am an engineering/mechanical contractor and I have more tools than most small tool stores.
Years ago I started painting my tools bright orange.
This sounds "cheesey" I know, but it has saved me a small fortune.
Family and those who consider themselves family are (were) the worst offenders.
I even have a dip shit of a neighbor (this asshole has even borrowed flag stone from my wife while I was out of town)who asked if I can teach him to ride my Harley so he could start useing it.
Sometimes it's better to loan out (give away) an old tool just so they don't get a chance to hit you harder.
People seem to have a short memory when it comes to returning something that they didn't earn or pay for (something that they think they can get for free).
People who don't return things piss me off.
I consider it a lack of respect.
Mechanical (leave my fucking tools alone) Andy

"No way, man! My hair is who I am!" -Homer Simpson about to get a haircut. [>(]
Sorry, just had to get that out of the way. Been going through my head all day after seeing that particular episode!
Back to the topic at hand. Loan my tools out? [size=4][red]Heck! No way!![/red][/size=4]
I don't tell anybody about my tools. I have a double-decker tool chest on wheels filled up with quality Craftman tools in each of the draws. I always go the extra step on keeping all my tools hidden. Remember that adage, "out of sight, out of mind!" holds true at least in my life. It is so easy to lose a friend due to a tool not retuned or money not paid back!
If I even loan any tools out, they would be from a small K-mart special tool kit I had gotten for Christmas one year. I would give a tool out to the most hardcore nagger from that set and no other.
Gotta go. Want to finish up the rest of the baby back ribs I cooked on the BBQ earlier today! [:P]
[b]-RoadDog[/b]
[img]http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/scooby1.gif[/img]

Tools, Guns, Cameras, no. Problem is that I always have considered myself willing to help anyone out and what I think has happened as I've gotten older is that I sort of like having everything clean, in order, and ready in case I need to use it. I was a little surprised when I realized that but oh well... But I have almost everything important backed up and I do lend out my back-ups.
The other thing is that I would never borrow tools because if I need it I get it, but also there's so much stress because I'd feel bad if I broke something (and stuff happens) and then I'd have to buy one to replace it and I still don't have that new one for myself. It just makes no sense.
Rich
NRA, GOA, LEAA, CCRN

I could of used this post last weekend! Made the mistake of loaning out my 92 chevy truck to some friends so they could move. Guy calls me to tell me the truck seems to be smoking. Mention that this truck burns no oil and he must be mistaken or on drugs, then tells me that perhaps he left the parking brake on! So how far did you drive this truck w/ the brake on? Oh from one side of town to the other, probably about 15 miles or so. Somebitch! Get in the truck to drive it home, start truck, brake light on, release e-brake, oh already off, so what do we have here? Pop hood, hmmm, no fluid in one of the reservoirs, somebitch, drive home, houston we have a problem. Get home, get flashlight, get on my creaky old knees, somebitch, blown wheel cylinder bigger than shit. Guess who was working on his truck till midnight the day before his birthday?

I have to say I am guilty of borrowing my dad's tools, e.g., log splitter, tiller, pressure washer and 16 ft. trailer.
But I always ask first and always, ALWAYS, return the stuff cleaner than when I got it, full of gas, and as soon as I'm finished with them. I have even paid for having them serviced when they just simply need to be serviced.
Come to think of it, the only reason I have a chainsaw is the fact I had borrowed my dad's a few years ago and the thing froze up on me. Couldn't get it working so I went and bought a new one. Took both of them back to my dad and told him what happened. Next day he calls me and tells me to come back and get the new I bought because he got the other one working again.
Tried to get him to keep the new one and let me have the old one, but he wouldn't hear of it.
The point is, I treat my dad's tools as though they were my own, because someday they will be!
My brother on the other hand has to beg to borry my dad's tools. As mentioned in my first post, they don't seem to make it back to my dad's shed for a few months, dirty, out of gas and sometimes broke.